The thing about Christianity is that it was often the driving force behind Islam in Indonesia. Had Europeans never invaded in the first place, Islam wouldn't have become such a powerful banner of resistance.
Without Islam, Indonesian culture would have developed very differently:
Actually, animism would not necessarily be affected. Java only became more orthodox when the Minang started to 'clean up' Muhammadiyah in the early 20th Century. Muhammadiyah's founder, the Javanese Ahmad Dahlan, didn't dare to overturn Javanese tradition.
Without Islam, Indonesian culture would have developed very differently:
- Javanese music and dance would remain more crude and expressive (think of lively Balinese performance compared to courtly Yogyakartan)
- Textiles would be less refined (Islamic ban on images encouraged abstract, intricate designs).
- Indonesians would be easier to enslave. Most slaves in colonial Batavia were Balinese, as Europeans avoided Muslim slaves in case they rebelled.
- If Indonesia did become a Portuguese colony, Indonesians would be more mixed-race, as Catholic rule was more tolerant of interracial marriage than Dutch.
Actually, animism would not necessarily be affected. Java only became more orthodox when the Minang started to 'clean up' Muhammadiyah in the early 20th Century. Muhammadiyah's founder, the Javanese Ahmad Dahlan, didn't dare to overturn Javanese tradition.
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